1. Field of the Invention
A flowering tube or planter which is herein disclosed is one that is particularly adapted to receive earthen soil. The flowering planter is provided with vertically spaced keyhole slots which are arranged in circumferentially spaced rows about an outer diameter of an elongated upright sleeve. Flowering plants protrude through the keyhole slots with roots embedded in soil carried inside of the planter. In accordance with important features of my invention, the flowering planter is provided with an inner watering tube that is coaxially mounted with the flowering tube or planter and is supported internally of the planter so as to be equidistantly spaced from the vertically spaced keyhole slots in the outer shell or tube. This watering tube is further provided with circumferentially and axially spaced orifices preferably positioned slightly above the keyhole slots for enabling water poured into an upper end of the watering tube to be conveyed and discharged through the orifices to the root structure of flowering plants that extend through the keyhole slots. Flowering plants such as impatiens and begonias can then be inserted through the slots into earthen soil provided in the flowering tube or sleeve for providing the soil requirements to sustain the life of the plants when the plants are planted in the soil and watered through an upper open end of the elongated upright sleeve.
My planter when filled with flowery plants provides a very attractive addition to a person's patio or garden area and is also usable by shut-ins where a back yard garden may be unavailable such as for condominium dwellers and the like. This planter is also constructed so that it can be economically manufactured on a production basis, if desired.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In connection with the searches made of the prior art, attention is drawn to the following listed U.S. Pat. Nos.:
4,143,487 PA1 5,046,282 PA1 5,081,790 PA1 GB 2, 147,484 A
Based on a review of the above listed patents, it is not believed that any of them are particularly pertinent to my flowering planter. None of these patents provide a closed ended water tight watering tube co-axially mounted in an outer sleeve that can be readily used for propagating plants. U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,322 shows a patent entitled "Ornamental Container and Display Assembly for a Seedling Plant". In this instance, the plant is grown out through an open upper end of the container as indicated at 18. The container is provided with a slotted ring member which also enable Christmas tree boughs to be extended through holes 49 in the container as seen in FIGS. 8 and 9. It is an important object of my invention to provide a flowering planter where flowering plants can be grown from slots in the tube where the tube contains earthen soil, with water being inserted through an open end of the watering tube for the purpose of providing moisture through tube orifices to the flowering plants. The root structure of the plants extends through keyhole slots in the tube into the earthen soil with the water tube orifices being located just above and radially inwardly of the keyhole slots.
Other of the prior an patents show different types of watering tubes, but none of them are adapted to function in the unique manner that has been herein disclosed where a lower closed water tight end of the watering tube is co-axially aligned in removable assembly in an outer cylindrical keyhole slotted sleeve or planter and which embody important features of my invention. It is significant to note that my watering tube has a closed end at its bottom, thus confining the water that is poured into the tube so that it can only escape in a radial direction at axially and circumferentially spaced positions located in radial adjacency to keyhole slots provided in the outer tube or shell of my planter.